Publishing Methods for a Nonfiction Book – Case Studies

In this week’s blog post, we will be looking at some fictional case studies of the publishing choices available for nonfiction books, to give you a better idea of how these work in practice. We will focus on just two options, self-publishing and traditional publishing with a publishing house, looking at assisted publishing case studies in a later blog post. To start off, we will briefly go over some of the advantages of each option, then look at the case studies. If you want to read about the methods in more detail, take a look at my blog posts here (traditional publishing) and here (self-publishing).

Traditional Publishing

The key advantage of traditional publishing is not needing to find any money upfront, as the publishing house will pay for all of this. Depending on their policy and how much they like your book, they might even give you an advance on the money you will receive from sales. However, do bear in mind that this will be taken out of your cut when the book is published. As well as paying for it, traditional publishers also sort out all of the necessary tasks for you, making sure that your book is ready for publication and looks professional. This makes things a lot easier for you, as you don’t have to organise editing, cover design, marketing, and everything else required!

Self-Publishing

With self-publishing, you do have to organise everything yourself, but the advantage of this is that you get full creative control. If you decide that you don’t like a particular cover design, for example, you can say this and have another one created. You might have to pay, but you have the final say in every decision. You will also be able to set your own deadlines and the final publication date, rather than having to fit in with the publisher’s timeline.

In addition, you will retain control over the rights to your book. If you sell your book to a publisher, they will stipulate exactly what they control in their contract, but you are unlikely to retain sole control. With self-publishing, you will remain the owner of what you have created.

Case Study A: Matt

Matt has a well-established following on his travel blog, with the majority of followers expressing interest when he has put forward the idea of a book collecting some blog posts and adding in new ones that would be exclusive to the book, as well as advice and help sections. He doesn’t have much money upfront but would have just enough to cover the basic costs, with the possibility of getting extra through crowdfunding. He has mentioned this to his followers and has been met with a positive response. Matt works a part-time job, choosing to focus the rest of his time on his blog, which he is already earning money from with the use of advertising.

Based on these points, it is likely that a self-publishing option would suit Matt best. He has the money available to fund this and knows that he has potential buyers. Of course, this will still rely on his book being of high enough quality that they will actually buy it when it comes to it, but it is reasonable to assume he would be able to sell some. As his followers are supportive, it is possible that Matt may be able to devote some of the time he normally spends on his blog dealing with all of the tasks that come with self-publishing.

Case Study B: Kazima

Kazima works as an expert in her field of archaeology but does not have much disposable income, although she does have some savings. She works full-time, with room for some flexibility, but has not yet written her book. However, she has written out a detailed book proposal, explaining what the book would contain, how it could be marketed and why she thinks it would sell. She does not really want to have to manage publication tasks such as editing, getting cover art and running a marketing campaign.

It seems that Kazima’s book would do well with a traditional publishing option. She has already got her book proposal together and is a well-known expert in her field, meaning that people will recognise her name and be more likely to buy her book. She would also not need to pay anything towards traditional publishing and might even be given an advance to write the book, based on her proposal. This would then mean she could afford to take some time away from work to get her book written, while the publisher deals with everything else.

Assisted Publishing

Before we finish this blog post, it is worth mentioning that there is one other frequently used method, which is assisted publishing. This is a cross between traditional publishing and self-publishing, where the author pays the assisted publisher and the company will take care of all the publishing requirements.

Wrapping Up

I hope that this gives you an insight into the options available to nonfiction authors. In my next blog post, we will be looking at assisted publishing in more detail and some more case studies, so come back in two weeks for that!

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